Hand-propelled vehicle.



F. 1 SEMRADEK.

HAND PROPELLED VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25. 1913.

1,203,142. Patented Oct. 31,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I F. J. SEMRADEK.

HAND PROPELLED VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, 1913.

1,203,142. Patented Oct. 31,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2. y

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FRANK JAMES SEMRADEK, or. onroaco, ILLINOIS.

HAND-PROPELLED VEHICLE.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct. 31, 1916.

Application filed January 25, 1913. Serial No. 744,201.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK Janus SEMRA- DEK,citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Hand Propelled Vehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to passenger vehicles and more particularly to theclass of toy vehicles used by boys and commonly known pushmobiles.

It has heretofore been customary for the person standing upon theplatform of such a vahicle to propel the same by occasionally reachingdown to the ground with one foot.

One object of my invention is to provide means whereby the passenger ofsuch a vehicle may propel the same with his arms.

Another object is to provide means for varying the times at which thetwo handles of the propelling mechanism of my device are moved up anddown, so that these handles may be raised and depressed eithersimultaneously or at some predetermined interval of time.

Further objects are to provide a simple and strong truck constructionfor vehicles of this class, and one permitting of a partial dismountingof the truck parts to facilitate packing and shipping.

In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the vehicle of myinvention. Fig. 2- shows an upward plan view of the same. Fig. -3 showsa side view of the same. Fig. 1- shows a plan view of the vehicle takenalong the line l4t of Fig. 3, with the connecting rods of the operatingmechanism omitted. Fig. 5- shows a section through Fig. -3- along theline 5-5.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, the vehicle hasa platform 1, preferably of wood, supported by a pair of steel members 2which together form a substantially U-shaped truck frame, the greaterpart of which frame is positioned horizontally under the wooden platform1 and secured to the latter by bolts 6. The rear end of each of themembers 2 is preferably bent downward and then coiled upon itself so asto form a bearing for the main axle 4 of the vehicle, which axle hasrear Wheels 5 mounted upon its opposite ends.

The forward ends 10 of the members 2 comprising the U-shaped portion ofthe truck frame are preferably bent into parallel planes, therebypermitting the end 7 of another steel member to be interposed be tweenthese ends 10 and secured to the same by bolts 25'. The frame member 7projects beyond the forward edge of the platform 1 and has secured to itan arm 9 terminating in a tubular elbow 12, which forms a bearing forthe steering fork 22 of the vehicle. Pivoted in this steering fork 22 isa secondary axle 23 having a steering wheel 24 nonrotatably secured tothe same by a key 26 and also having a pinion 20 keyed to an extensionof the said axle outwardly of the fork 22. The latter also carries agear axle 27 having a crank 18 and a gear 19 keyed respectively to itsopposite ends.

The steering fork 22 is rigidly connected to a riser or steering post 11having at its upper end a pivot 18 passing through a pair of oppositelydisposed levers of the first class 14, each of which levers has at oneend a handle 15. The other ends 16 of the levers 14 are connected byconnecting rods, respectively, with the crank 18 and a correspondingcrank formation 28 upon the gear 19, the points of connection betweenthe rods 17 and the crank formations to which they are thus connectedbeing equidistant from the gear shaft 27. WVhen the levers and the crankformations are thus connected, an oscillation of the levers about theircommon pivot 13 will cause the connecting rods 17 to move in asubstantially longitudinal direction, thereby rotating the gear 19 andthe pinion 20 with which the said gear is intermeshed. Since this pinionis secured to the secondary shaft 23 upon which the steering wheel 26 isnonrotatably mounted, the rotation of this pinion will also rotate theforward wheel of the vehicle, thereby propelling the latter.

When the levers and their connections are relatively positioned as inFig. -l, it will be evident from the drawing that handles 15 will moveup and down simultaneously. However, I do not wish to be restricted tothis arrangement of the propelling mechanism as it may be desirable tovary the connections so as to avoid a so-called dead center upon thedriving gear. I, therefore, provide another raised boss 80 on the outersurface of the wheel 19, preferably located at a pivot 90 degrees fromthe position of the pin 28 so that one of the rods 17 may be connectedto this formation 30, thereby arranging the mechanism to destroy thedead center.

Having thus shown and described my invention in an embodiment capable ofnumerous modifications without departing from its spirit, I claim In ahand propelled vehicle a relatively low platform adapted to serve as asupport upon which the operator may stand, a steering' post mounted in avertical bearing for steering movement, a steering wheel mounted uponthe lower end of the post, trans- FRANK JAMES SEMRADEK.

Witnesses:

M. M. BOYLE, ALBERT SGHEIBLE.

Copies of this patent ma; be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

